Bullseye and other Funnies

I should have posted this before Bullseye Rides Again. This is another email I sent family and friends, dated April 25, 2005.

Hey everybody,

I thought I'd send a mass email to update you all on our family. This past week has been especially entertaining for us, hopefully you'll enjoy it too!

First of all, our son, Travis, is almost 3. He has a new horse, it is brownish and it's name is Bullseye. It's make believe of course. Anyway, he holds onto the reins with his fists clinched tightly and gallops around the house on a regular basis. Sometimes he tells us to be quiet because his horse is asleep or he opens the front door to let Bullseye out to go eat. He's informed us that he now has 4 horses. Whenever we find him playing with other toys we ask, "Where's your horse?" He'll say, "Oh, he's tied up in his trailer." We like to encourage his imagination. So, this past Thursday, we had gone out with Johnny to one of his appointments (AFLAC at the time). Travis brought two horses with him, and left the other two at home. After the appointment, we stopped by Wal-Mart and, of course, Travis galloped through the store. On a side note- we found black felt cowboy hats clearanced for $3. They're real cowboy hats, not the toy kind. So Katherine and Travis are now a cowboy and cowgirl. Anyway, we got home and Travis had gotten a birthday invitation that he was so excited about. He carried it around, even when Johnny took him to the bathroom. I was busy putting things away when I had a funny idea. I said, "Travis!" (He's finishing up in the bathroom) "While we were gone, you're horse pooped on the floor in my room!" "Can you believe that?!" Johnny started laughing, but Travis just got frustrated with his horse. He walks to our room with a frown on his face saying, "Ughhh!" He reaches down to the floor with his birthday card and sweeps it. Katherine is catching on to all of this and says, with a gasp, "Ohhh! Travis's card has poop on it!" Now Travis is really frustrated and heads back to the bathroom to wash off his card. This whole time Johnny is cracking up. I help Travis wipe his card off with a dry washcloth and just say, "Man! Travis, can you believe that?!" He quickly took his horse outside! Everyday, he rides his imaginary horses and takes them "out to pasture" and helps them take naps. Too cute!

Now for Katherine. I was sitting here at the computer typing something and Katherine was on a beanbag next to me. I looked over at her staring at the floor and asked what was wrong. She replied, "I'm just thinking." "About what?" I asked. "My life." "Really, tell me about it." "I'm just thinking about my life and the Spirit." "The Spirit? The Holy Ghost?" "Yeah." "What do you mean?" "I'm just thinking about stuff." She didn't really want to talk about it. So later I told Johnny about it and when he got a chance he asked her about it. He said, "Mommy tells me you were thinking about the Holy Ghost, do you want to tell me about it?" She said, "Yeah, I was thinking about the Holy Ghost and he wants us to be nice to people, and love them." We were so proud of her and grateful that she's actually getting it, already!

Then, on Saturday, I went for a walk with the kids, Olivia was in the stroller, Katherine was beside me helping push and Travis was galloping ahead of us on his trusty steed, Bullseye. He was motioning with one hand and holding the reins with the other, saying, "Come on! Follow me!" Katherine quickly replied, "No Travis! We're not going to follow you! We follow Jesus!" He was a little confused and said it again, "Follow me!" She was frustrated and said, "No Travis! We will follow Jesus, not you!" I explained to her that Travis means, Come on, this way!, not for us to actually follow him. She said, "Oh."

Ok, now for Olivia. I fixed her hair in a whale spout two days in a row. When Sunday came, yesterday, I decided to put pigtails on top of her head. That's really the only hair long enough to fix. So, she either had horns or antennas- however you want to look at it. It was cute, nonetheless. Yesterday night we were taking pictures of her cute hair. Lately she's been pulling up to things and letting go. So last night she took her first 2 steps!! Very exciting! She is quickly catching up to her very funny siblings!

(Just now, Travis was running through the house with a toy screwdriver, pretending it's a sword, yelling, "It's payback time!" I love to watch him!)

All our love,

Johnny, Jill, Katherine, Travis, and Olivia


Such fun memories! The story of Samuel cleaning up his mess of yucky candy is what prompted this post- it's a lot like Travis wiping the floor with his birthday invitation. Haha!

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"I just like smiling. Smiling's my favorite!" 

By far, one of the best movie lines- and a great mantra. 

Today I'm smiling because of these people:

Quick update: Johnny supposedly has lupus. "Early, mild" to be exact. I say supposedly because he has been working the night-shift for so long that his circadian rhythm is practically non-existent. That messes you up big time. Good news: He's switched jobs and now works in the ICU at Medical Center (same town, different hospital) on the DAY SHIFT! Our lives have changed dramatically. He loves his job. He loves his coworkers. He even loves his boss! Yeah- that's pretty amazing. And now that he has switched, he is becoming a normal person. He's getting used to sleeping through the night (that is, if Samuel does- no I do not make Johnny get up with the baby, but if the baby gets up, it's inevitable that he'll hear him.). He doesn't have the aches/pains anymore and his entire attitude/temperament is positive. He can't wait to start online classes later this month for his RN-BSN. In 2 years, we'll be moving away for CRNA school.- Johnny's ultimate dream job. We hope to come back here after it's all said and done. 

Anyway- back to the health concern. Since switching jobs we are without insurance for 30 days. Our hope/plan is for Johnny to live a normal life- sleep 8 hours each night, eat healthy, exercise for a month or so, then go back and have lab work done to check his ANA level. His Dr. told him this morning, in passing, that he thinks Johnny should go back in 6 mos and that stress/sleep deprivation could be what raised his ANA levels to start with. Nice!

It's amazing what a difference it's made in him switching jobs. We have discussed why the timing has been what it's been- remember when we prayed and were told not to switch jobs? For whatever reason, the timing has been good for us now and we feel that it has a lot to do with him starting school. Before, when we prayed about it, it was a job change for money and school wasn't a priority. Now it is and we're making it happen. 

It feels good to know that we are where we should be, doing what we should be doing with the people we should be with. That's enough to make anyone smile.

Say cheese!

 I love Samuel's smile in this picture.
Did you know he has 6 teeth? 

Four on top and two on bottom.

And did you know he just turned 10 months old?

For the longest time he was "army crawling" and dragging his big little belly across the tile floor.

In the last week and a half, he is crawling on all fours! I don't have a picture or video yet- I really ought to learn how to take moving pictures that don't blur. Hmmm...

I love this picture of Johnny with Samuel. Oh- did you notice Johnny shaves his head now? He got tired of my joke. Oh! I didn't tell you yet? Well, here goes... "Do you want to know the 'real' reason Johnny doesn't have any hair? It's because I'm too vain to pull my own hair out!" Yeah, I thought it was pretty funny too. I guess he heard it too many times and decided to shave it all off- maybe he thought it would help me manage stress better. We'll see.

 Sweet Travis! He has glasses now. I think he looks so smart- like a little genius. Travis is always so helpful and gives the best hugs and tells me he loves me, several times throughout the day...makes my heart swell. Out of all the kids, he is the most vocal about how he feels about homeschooling this year. He wants it to start yesterday! Maybe he is a genius?

 Olivia is growing up so much. She's so helpful with Samuel and is becoming more and more responsible. She's 7 already! That means next year she will be baptized! Yikes. She's super excited to start homeschooling next month. I love her eagerness and excitement about life. She is a good example for me because she is more easy going- a trait I've always admired and tried to emulate.

 My Bryn. Look at those beautiful brown eyes! She has so much energy and the cutest little voice. I love the way she communicates and explains things to me. Since she got to be the baby for the longest, she and I have our own way to communicate. For example, I sometimes kiss her cheeks over and over and she'll kiss mine and I'll say, "Hey! Give me back my sugars!" and she'll have to kiss me again. Or I'll say, "Bryn, I need sugars so I can be sweet." and she'll give me kisses.
She is adorable!

Katherine doesn't normally wear makeup. This picture is from our last visit to Vidor. My sister, Rachel, dolled her up- doesn't she look beautiful? She's always beautiful. Being the oldest, Katherine is always willing to do whatever needs to be done and works very hard at getting along with her siblings. I appreciate her so much for being her. She's going into the 5th grade. She is excited about homeschool starting too. She is interested in so many things and can't wait to learn about it all- like all things Australia, crocheting, sewing, music, art, having a book published... amazing things! She's becoming very task-oriented like her mom.

Ella has the best laugh! Her sense of humor is so surprising sometimes. She's also very inquisitive. Some of the questions she asks are surprising. Lately, the questions have had a lot to do with following Jesus Christ or following Satan and the differences between our Church and other churches. For example, she asked me, "Mom, what are people called if they're not called Mormons?" See what I mean? She'll be starting kindergarten this year, which means she may never go to public school. Our first child to do that! I love that Ella is a good friend. She plays well with all of her siblings and is usually willing to share. When we were in Vidor, she was jumping off the diving board more than anyone-wearing floaties of course. Such a brave girl!

Motivate Me Monday: Losing Weight without the Workout!

Since I last posted, I have worked out maybe twice. But I'm not apologizing or even asking for more encouragement, because I have lost, like 3-4 lbs!

That's pretty amazing, right?! Last Tuesday morning I had a great workout! I did Turbo Sculpt and was able to push myself more than I had in a long time.

That afternoon I felt sore. I love feeling sore after a workout! But I did think it was odd that I would feel sore so soon.

The next day I knew I had a sinus infection and maybe a virus. My legs and joints ached and my sinuses burned, but no fever. Shoulda known the soreness wasn't from the workout.

*sigh*

On top of that, all week I was running errands and didn't get to nurse Samuel as often as usual. Ella had dental surgery on Friday, so I was away for several hours. (She had some cavities worked on. I'll blog about it soon.)

By Saturday night I had full blown mastitis. 102.3° fever, aches, chills, miserable. My aches and pains from earlier in the week were still there, only worse. So I'm still not sure if I had 1 or 2 sicknesses. ??

Today I still feel weak and sick, but no fever. I've been nursing exclusively. Poor Samuel. He was really liking his baby food. Also, I'm about to start an antibiotic (once I pick it up)- or should I if I'm not running a fever anymore?

Once I'm able to workout again, I'm really going to hit the weights hard! I don't want to lose muscle from being sick. Plus it's my favorite way to workout ;)

I have to say, my kids have been amazing! Not only was I sick, but Johnny has been sick since last Tuesday (or maybe before that) with a low-grade fever, and Travis has had a fever since Sunday. Katherine has been an angel babysitting for me and helping around the house. Olivia and Bryn have been super helpful and Ella too, when she could. Samuel is all smiles all the time. He had a fever last night, but seems okay today.

I couldn't ask for more.

♥

Olivia Turns Six

Poor Olivia has never had a "real" birthday party. 

So this year we wanted to make up for it and go all out!

Not only did she have a "real" birthday party, but a swimming party!! 

We had it the Saturday before her birthday.

Her Aunt Melissa and Uncle Thomas were so nice to let us have

her party at their house and use their pool! (Thanks Moore family!)

She thought it was pretty great! Turning 6 was a big deal

for her- she waited a whole year for it! ;)

On her actual birthday, June 15th, her cousin Bradyn was here.

They all got to play on her brand new slip-n-slide!

Lots of fancy presents- perfect for a fancy girl turning 6!

She asked for a Pineapple Upside Cake, yum!

It was a fun day!

We love you Olivia! You're such a fun girl and we're so happy 

to have you in our family! 

Our Variety Show commercial!!

For our annual Sellers Family Variety Show this year,

we made a commercial... enjoy!

{The video quality is terrible. We're working on remedying that for next year. ;) }

If you turn 5 you'll

lose a tooth. Olivia lost her first tooth! Johnny was at work and she showed me how loose her tooth was. She asked me to pull it so she could get money, but I was too scared it would hurt her. I've never pulled a tooth, for myself or anyone else. My teeth were either pulled by my dad, or knocked out by force. lol So we waited a little while until Johnny came home. Olivia assured us she would only "fake"cry. (That's when she only cries for a minute or two- then she says it was fake.) Johnny felt of her tooth and wiggled it, then with one motion, it was out! No tears, not even fake ones! Her gums bled a little, but not for long. She was so excited!

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Olivia turned 5 on June 15th. It's hard to believe, but it's true. She's such a sweet girl and we loved spending the day celebrating her! It was Johnny's first day of work, and Katherine was running a fever, but it was still a fun day.

Olivia went to bed 4 years old...







and she woke up 5!!

The birthday girl is ready for the party!

The party-goers: Travis, Ella and Bryn

Katherine wasn't feeling like partying :(

So we moved the party to her.

Bryn had to excuse herself to take a nap.

Present #1: Walt Disney's Meet the Robinsons. Cute movie!

Present #2: Fancy Nancy The Dazzling Book Report

Present #3: Fancy Nancy Sees Stars

Present #4: Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire

Present #5: from Aunt Melissa, Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too


Present #6: a bicycle basket with streamers and a bell

Present #7: Girl Legos (she and Katherine asked for it)


Present #8: a Valentine Peek-a-boo Petite doll

Present #9: Another Valentine Peek-a-boo Petite doll


Present #10: from my parents, 2 Littlest Pet Shop toys

Present #11: from Johnny's parents a card and $10 (she bought a Tinkerbell doll with it)

Present #12: from Sister Cantrell from church, a babydoll and a party in her honor in primary, complete with hats and a princess game.



She asked for a Princess strawberry cake with strawberry icing. She chose the Little Mermaid as her princess. We waited to have cake until Johnny came home from work.


Katherine was feeling better- but still in pjs ;)


Johnny had a good day at work.

Bryn was ready for cake before bedtime.


Olivia's ready to pin the heart on the crown.


Katherine's turn- she missed ;)

Travis tried to cheat. Silly boy!

Ella's ready for yummy cake!

Olivia had a great birthday! Thanks to everyone for the lovely gifts. She felt special :)